The Internicola Law Firm, PC is a specialized business and franchise law firm dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship and assisting entrepreneurs and business owners in building great businesses. This newsletter is all about entrepreneurship and sharing with our clients, colleagues and friends a mindset of success, best practices for business expansion and protection and learning from one another. This newsletter means a lot to us, we hope you enjoy it and we are always glad to hear from you with any comments or suggestions that you may have.

The Business and Franchise Law Report is a publication of the Charles N. Internicola Law Firm, P.C., and is intended to educate the general public about business law issues. It is not intended to be legal advice. The information in this newsletter may be freely copied and distributed as long as the newsletter is copied in its entirety.

ABOUT THE INTERNICOLA LAW FIRM, P.C.

email cni@BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com | web www.BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com | tel 800.976.4904

ENTREPRENEURS THAT KICK ASS™

volume 3 | issue 7

BASEBALL, PIZZA, FRANCHISING, AND A PROHIBITION ERA CONFECTIONERY SHOP

in Staten Island, well... I made sure that the tradition

passed on to my son, Alex, and so we went to Denino’s

for pizza. The emotional connection that certain very

unique and special businesses have on a childhood and

on generations of families is quite rare and difficult to

describe but Denino’s is one of those special businesses.

So this past year our entire team was extremely proud

and glad to be working with Michael Burke, Denino’s,

and their entire team in assisting and guiding them

in the launch of the Denino’s franchise system. Unlike —continued on page 2

Charles N. InternicolaBrian A. Lincer

As a child growing up there was nothing better than

getting pizza after a little league baseball game and for

those of you that know Staten Island, NY, well, there was

and is no better place than Denino’s Pizzeria and Tavern.

So many memories... and this past spring when my 12

year old son’s travel baseball team came to play a game

Denino’s, 1923

Denino’s, 2015

2 The Business and Franchise Law Report | Volume 3 Issue 7

other franchise systems focused on volume growth and

rapid expansion, from the very, start Michael and his

team insisted on implementing a franchise system that

maintained the unique character and qualities that has

made Denino’s a landmark for over seven decades. The

franchise development model that we followed and

adopted is not one focused on rapid expansion but on

organic expansion that is initially focused on Denino’s

ever expanding base of raving fans.

It is always interesting to see the progression of a

business and how entrepreneurs overcome obstacles,

try their best and, in certain cases, create landmark

institutions. In the case of Denino’s, here are some

interesting facts:

Denino’s was the sponsor of the 1964 Staten

Island Little League Team to win the Little League World

Series;

Talk about true entrepreneurship, today’s

historic Pizzeria and Tavern started off as a confectionery

shop during the prohibition era (photo on page 1);

Not until 1951 (28 years after the Denino’s

family first started the business) did they introduce

what is now Denino’s famous pizza.

Among many other awards, Denino’s has been

consistently named Staten Island’s Best Pizza.

The Denino’s story is quite compelling and interesting

on so many levels.

This historic pizzeria started off as a candy shop and

although pizza came along it was not part of the original

—continued from page 1BASEBALL, PIZZA, FRANCHISING, AND A PROHIBITION ERA CONFECTIONERY SHOP TURNED

plan. Which gets to the point that entrepreneurship

and success is more about a mindset of hard work,

trial and error, adapting and never giving up. If the

Denino’s were just content selling candy, well I am sure

almost no one would know about Denino’s. Likewise,

if Michael Burke and his family, through hard work

and dedication, did not stay true to Denino’s roots

and their dedicated customer focus, well, like many

other family owned businesses, Denino’s may not of

stayed on the growth trajectory that it continues to

enjoy.

The true testament

of Denino’s is

the fact that the

generational story of

Denino’s continues

to grow among yet

another generation

- including my 12

year old son who sat

there eating pizza in

a dirty grass stained

baseball uniform.

For more information about the Denino’s franchise system, visit: deninosfranchisepizza.com.

deninos.com

Charles’ son, Alex

3www.BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com

BUSINESS RESOURCES THAT KICK ASS

HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET OF YOUR BUSINESS?

I guess it is more important to start off with the

question of, “What is the most important asset of your

business?”

Answer: Your customers and your customer list.

So how do you maintain and manage this critical asset?

Learning from and following the lead of our clients, over the years, our firm has become a big believer in Infusionsoft.

Infusionsoft is a cloud based CRM (customer relationship management system) that is designed for small businesses

and allows small business owners to maintain their customer lists, track prospects and customer communications.

The system allows you to automate and control communications with new prospects and with your existing

customers. It also allows you to track responses to your marketing and advertising campaigns and can power and

automate a good deal of other tasks. The system is quite comprehensive and involves tools and tasks that every

small business owner should be working on.

Some Business Development Questions:

1. Do you maintain an active and current list of your customers?

2. Do you maintain an active and current list of prospects who contact your business

but don’t convert into customers?

3. Have you established a long-term communication campaign (email, direct mail and

phone calls) with your current and long term customers?

4. Have you established a long-term communication campaign (email and direct mail) with prospects who didn’t

convert and hire your business?

5. Do you know the conversion rate on your email, direct mail and marketing campaigns?

If you don’t have a handle on these 5 questions, we definitely recommend that you check out Infusionsoft.

What also makes Infusionsoft a compelling company is how they approach their own business development.

Infusionsoft understands their target customers (small businesses) and so they have focused everything they do on

helping small business owners succeed. Infusionsoft offers some great (free) articles and materials about strategic

planning and business marketing: Visit www.Infusionsoft.com.

Let us know what you think. Also if you are using a competing CRM system we would be glad to hear from you, learn about your experiences and share them with other readers of this newsletter.

www.Infusionsoft.com

4

IN THIS ISSUE

1000 South Avenue | Suite 104Staten Island, NY 10314

1.800.976.4904www.BusinessandFranchiseLaw.com

ENTREPRENEURS THAT KICK ASS™ Baseball, Pizza, Franchising, and a prohibition era confectionery shop turned pizzeria PAGE 1

QUOTE OF THE MONTH Tumblr founder and CEO talks about Entrepreneurs PAGE 4

BUSINESS RESOURCES THAT KICK ASS How do you manage the most important asset of your business?PAGE 3

FRANCHISE ALERT Learn how Brooklyn-based Lobster Joint franchised it’s businessPAGE 4

“ —David KarpEntrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something

and a want to create.”

CONNECT WITH US!

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

FRANCHISE ALERT

LEARN HOW BROOKLYN-BASED LOBSTER JOINT FRANCHISED IT’S BUSINESS

Lobster Joint is Brooklyn, New York’s version of the very best in

New England comfort food and the place (joint) where you can

find the freshest lobster rolls on the east coast. Bob Levitt and

Thomas Chabrowski established a truly unique restaurant that has

taken NYC by storm. They recently launched their franchise.

Learn about the Lobster Joint story by visiting www.ownalobsterjoint.com

Robert Levitt and Thomas ChabrowskiCo-Founders of Lobster Joint